Sickest Day
by eclarefanxxx
Summary: Clare's not feeling well. She's lucky to have a boyfriend like Eli! SUMMARY SUCKS...
1. Chapter 1

Sickest Day

I woke up to an extremely bewildering feeling of faintness in my head. I slid out of my lavender colored sheets and headed to the bathroom, bringing my makeup with me. My usual routine followed: I washed my face, carefully applied mascara and light eyeliner, and I styled my side bang before placing a thin purple headband in my hair. My hair was a vibrant auburn today, and I groaned in exhaustion before padding back to my room. My hair may have looked good, but every other part of me screamed exhaustion. I packed my school books into my bag and changed into a simple outfit of jeans, a green V neck tee, and flats. Thank goodness Mr. Simpson and the Board decided to get rid of the uniforms. I really hated not being able to express my style anymore. After all, today was the first day of my junior year at Degrassi; I needed to look good. After I finally finished getting ready, I grabbed my green and black tote and school bag, walking down the stairs to the kitchen. My mom smiled at me.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I made you some toast."

I smiled weakly back. "Thank you, Mom." I munched the toast and sipped tea before running back up the stairs to brush my teeth one more time. I tripped over the second to last step and fell on my knee.

"Ouch," I hissed in pain.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" My mom called from the kitchen, appearing in the hallway to check on me.

"Yeah, it's just clumsy old me." I murmured, getting up and scrambling to the bathroom.

I looked just the same in the mirror. Oh, whatever, I thought.

"Bye, Mom!" I called, quickly walking to school.

As I walked down the school hallway looking for my new locker, I felt a pair of arms hug me around the waist from behind. I smiled to myself.

"'Morning, Edwards," Eli murmured in my ear, kissing my temple and nuzzling my neck with his nose.

I croaked out a laugh and turned around, kissing his full pink lips chastely. I hugged him around the waist and he wound his arms around mine, squeezing lightly. I rested my head on his shoulder and he laughed.

"You okay?"

"Never better," I whispered, reluctantly pulling away from him.

"Maybe it's just your enthusiasm for math class!" He joked, knowing my distaste for anything but English and Journalism class.

"Yeah, you're right on the dot." I replied sardonically, kissing him again.

He smirked. "Well, if it'll cheer you up, our movie night is tonight. I'll come get you at seven, and we can watch whatever movie you want on my couch."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, just no horror movies. Please!"

"Why not? You can always jump into my lap when you get scared!" I glared at him, trying not to smile. "Alright, alright, cheesy romantic comedy it is..."

I was about to respond before the bell rang. "Algebra 2 calls," I groaned, leaning in and pecking him on the lips before beginning to walk to class.

What happened next I can't even explain at all. I began walking down the hallway when I started breathing horribly, dropping to my knees in the middle of the floor. A painful headache set in, knocking me off my knees to my back. Lightheadedness set in, and students looked concernedly at me, trying to help me up. My coughing got the better of me, and I eventually had trouble moving at all. The last thing I saw was Eli bending over me, trying to get me to sit up, before I blacked out completely.

I woke up to beeping noises all around me. I looked to my right and saw Eli sitting in a plastic chair by my bed. An IV was in the back of my right hand, and I was wearing a blue hospital gown.

Eli noticed me waking up and grabbed my hand gently, careful not to disrupt the needle. There were actually several needles running through my arms, one of the injected in the crease of my left elbow. I winced at the feeling because ever since I was little I have always been afraid and grossed out by needles.

"How are you feeling?" he asked sweetly, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing it.

"Horrible," I sighed sadly, feeling soreness in my chest.

"Your doctor is going to test you for anemia, and it would be best if you stayed home from school and rested for a few days." He said carefully, knowing that I hate missing work.

"Eli, I can't do that! I'm fine! I'm not going to get behind in my classes! What about newspaper? Katie's going to be so mad if I don't finish that article by the deadline!" I deadpanned, frantically looking around the room.

"Clare," Eli smiled. "Adam has all the same classes as you, except for French and Tech Ed. I'm sure he'll bring you all your assignments and homework."

"Aren't you going to miss me at school?" I joked, stroking his hand which was intertwined with mine with my free hand.

"'Eh, not really."

My brows furrowed in confusion before he finished with, "Only because I'm going to be staying with you and taking care of you!"

I snickered. "I should have known you'd joke around while I lay in a hospital bed,"

"Yeah, well, I guess you know me too well. By the way, the doctor prescribed iron pills for you, and he said you need to eat a lot of calcium and vitamin rich foods over the next few days. They're coming back to take a blood test in about 20 minutes, I think." Eli smirked when I cringed at the thought of yet another needle being shoved into my arm.

"Ugh, needles." I groaned, burrowing deeper into the pillow.

"Don't worry, Clare. I'll be there with you, and you've been through worse. Remember the blood drive at school 2 months ago?" He laughed, causing me to giggle lightly at the memory.

Every summer, Degrassi hosts a Blood Drive for the Red Cross. I met up with Eli there, and we gave blood together. Despite my fear of needles, I rolled up my sleeve and allowed them to take a pint of blood from me. Ten minutes later, I began to feel disgustingly faint, and I had to sit on the little cot in the room, drinking a juice box and eating a cookie, until I could see straight again.

"True," I sighed, not imagining anything worse than the Blood Drive disaster happening to me.

Just then, a doctor approached my room and slipped into the room. "Hello, Clare." He smiled kindly, clicking his pen and pulling out his clipboard. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel a lot better than I did before. I just don't really want to have my blood drawn." I murmured, and Eli stroked my hand with his thumb gently in reassurance.

"I'm sorry, Clare, but we have to check your iron levels. You've been showing severe signs of anemia, and that needs to be treated right away. Take 1 iron pill in the morning daily, prior to eating. You are going to need to stay home from school for a few days just to recover, okay?" He said, scribbling down my prescription and setting it on the table next to my bed.

"Will do, doctor. Thank you," I smiled sweetly at him, sitting up farther in the bed.

Eli gently pushed me back down. "Take it easy, sweetie. I don't want you to pass out again," He added worried, sensing my nervousness about the needle.

It's just my luck that a blond nurse wearing purple scrubs walked in, carrying a tray with a needle, disinfectant, and gauze.

"Hi, honey. I'm just going to take a little blood so we can test your iron levels, okay?" She smiled, setting the tray on the table next to my prescription. "Can you sit up for me and rest your arm on the arm rest, please?"

I complied, and waited for her to get it over with. She cleaned the crease of my left arm, which did not have an IV in it, with a strong smelling disinfectant that made my noise sting. Next, she grabbed the needle and gently pushed it into my arm, drawing the blood. I watched in horror as my blood filled about half of the needle.

Eli squeezed my hand tightly. I clenched my jaw, waiting for the awfulness to just end. When it did and she pulled the needle out, I felt relived. Once she taped the gauze pad to the area, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job, honey. My daughter doesn't like needles either, so I know how you feel." The nurse softly patted my shoulder before grabbing the tray and my blood and walking out of the room.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Eli joked, leaning forward and kissing my cheek.

"Bad? It was a walk in the park!" I said sarcastically, patting the bed space beside me. He climbed under the covers with me and cuddled me to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Morning light crept in through the slanted blinds into my hospital room. My eyes slowly opened to the feeling of soft, warm lips pressing feather lightly against my forehead.

"Eli," I groaned lightly, my groggy eyes fully opening and seeing his green eyes before me.

"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?" He murmured, his arms still hugging me tight around the waist.

I reached for his hand. "I feel kind of weird from all these irons and nutrient IVs in me."

He laughed. "I'm not the biggest fan of IVs either. We've all been there once or twice."

I frowned. "Well, I for one hate needles, and I want it out of me!"

"Easy there, sweetheart. The nurse said you can go home as soon as your mom discharges you from the hospital. Those needles will be out in no time." Eli kissed me lightly and I snuggled closer into his shirt.

"Is she even here?"

He nodded. "She came by right after you fell asleep last night. I was kind of awake for a while before I could finally fall asleep." I raised my eyebrows in confusion as to why he couldn't sleep. "I was just worried about you," He said sadly, clutching my hand in his.

"Awww! Eli, I'm fine, don't worry. I love you, and I'm going to get better once I take my medication daily. Plus, didn't you say something about taking care of me?" I smiled, pulling him in for another soft kiss.

He pulled away after about 30 seconds before answering, "Yes, I believe I did. As soon as you get home from the hospital, it's 2 days school-free for you and I,"

I grumbled in fake anger. "I still don't like missing all those classes, but I'm glad Adam can bring me my assignments."

Bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing it, he smirked. "It's only 2 days, honey."

"I know, but I still wish this never happened. Oh, whatever, I want some breakfast."

Just then, the same nurse that took my blood the night before walked in with two breakfast menus.

"Good morning," She greeted us kindly, accompanied by a small girl of about the age of six.

"Good morning," I smiled, holding Eli's hand tightly in mine. "And who's this?" I gestured to the little girl, who hid behind the nurse's legs.

"Oh, this is my daughter, Renee. She's the one I told you was afraid of needles as well." Renee tugged on her mom's scrubs indignantly. "Oh, Renee, say hello!"

"Hi," Renee whispered shyly, her brown eyes flickering with shy kindness. Her light brown hair was in two braids, and she waved to Eli and I.

"Hi there," Eli and I said at the same time. I giggled lightly at the coincidence.

The nurse laughed and stroked her daughter's hair. "Baby, why don't you go see if Nurse Jaclyn will give you some toys to play with?" Renee nodded eagerly and dashed out of the room.

Eli and I laughed. The nurse turned to us. "It's Take Your Child to Work Day at her school, and my husband is on a business trip. She begged me to take her with me, but she's going home with her grandma in an hour or so."

I grinned, snuggling close to Eli. "That's cute," I murmured.

"Anyway, you can take a minute to select your breakfasts, and I'll bring them to you." She handed us the menus before slipping out of the room to the lab next door.

Eli and I chose French toast with maple syrup, and I got orange juice while he got coffee.

The nurse took our orders and returned with our food about 10 minutes later.

After we ate, Eli turned to me. "You know I love you, right?"

I nodded. "Of course I do! I love you too, Eli." He smirked and pressed his lips to my neck. I stiffened for a second. His lips felt so good against my neck, and here we were, laying in a hospital bed.

He began placing feather light kisses all over my neck. I giggled, laying on my side and letting him keep kissing my neck. Eventually, I flipped myself to my other side so I was facing him, leaning in to kiss him. He kissed me back sweetly, caressing my side with his hand. I ran my fingers through his dark brown hair, letting my lips linger on his soft pink ones before parting.

"Well, good morning to you, too…" I laughed while he kissed my cheek and hopped off the bed. I frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go get your mom and see when you can go home, okay?" He kissed my forehead before turning towards the door.

"Okay,"

He left and only minutes later did my mom enter the room, smiling sadly. "How are you feeling, sweetheart? Glen and I are so worried about you! Jake is too, you know." She sat in the chair next to my bed and stroked my hair softly.

I leaned into her comforting touch. "I'm okay. When can I come home?"

She frowned, continuing to stroke my hair. "Honey, the tests came back positive for anemia. You can go home in about an hour, but you need to take it easy for the next few days."

I smiled at the thought of going home; the hospital kind of sucked. "Thank goodness, and I know. I'm going to be staying home with Eli taking care of me for 2 days, and then we're going back to school."

My mom kissed my forehead. "Alright, sweetie. I just wanted to let you know that Glen and I are going on a week trip to Toronto Island, and we want you and Jake to bond more, so we think you two should go up to the cabin with some friends for the weekend we're gone. Would you be okay with that?"

I was shocked. Was my mother seriously going to allow me to spend an entire week at a cabin on a beautiful lake with no adult supervision? Wow, I guess Glen really has changed her. "I'd love to. How many friends are we talking?"

"As many as you want, honey. We feel very bad about the awkward situation we've put both you and Jake in, and we want you to have fun." She twisted a strand of her dark brown hair around her finger, looking distracted in her own thoughts. "If you need anything, call your father, okay?"

I nodded sadly, remembering my father. He hadn't been as involved in my life since he'd met a new woman a few months ago, just after the divorce was finalized. "I will,"

"Okay, sweetie. I've already signed you out of the hospital, so whenever you're ready, we can get going, okay?" My mom stood up and walked out of the door after dropping a kiss on my cheek.

Eli stuck his head back in the room. "Ready to go home?"

"You have no idea." I laughed, gesturing him to sit in the chair my mom was just in. A smile was plastered across my cheek as he sat down.

He smirked cutely, taking my hand in his. "That happy to go home, eh?"

I shook my head of curls. "Eli, my mom and Glen are going to Toronto Island for a whole week starting on Halloween night! She said Jake and I can go to the cabin, and we can bring as many friends as we want!"

His green eyes widened in shock. "Do my ears deceive me or is your mother really allowing you to spend an entire week on a secluded lake in a cabin with a bunch of friends for an entire week with no adults whatsoever?"

I burst out laughing. "That's what I thought, but yeah, she is! Talk about a fun time, huh? Halloween, spookiness, with all of our friends!"

He grinned, kissing me softly. "Absolutely. I'm in."


End file.
